Roundabout skeleton discoveries rise to 61

38 minutes ago

Shariqua AhmedPeterborough

News image — The city council said the excavations and removal of the remains would delay the project by about 11 weeks

Peterborough City Council An aerial view of a roundabout with cars driving round it. The roofs of buildings and a car park dot the landscape along with a few areas of trees and grass. — The city council said the excavations and removal of the remains would delay the project by about 11 weeks

A total of 61 skeletons have now been found underneath a roundabout during a £65m city centre regeneration project, a council has said.

The remains, along with tombs and burial chambers, were uncovered deep in the site of Peterborough's Queensgate roundabout, built on a former cemetery.

Skeletons first started being discovered in July during works on the City Link walkway project, which has now been put back by a total of 11 weeks due to the finds.

Angus Ellis, Labour councillor and cabinet member for transport at Peterborough City Council, said: "We have a duty to exhume the skeletons carefully, ensuring we abide by the burial licence as instructed by the Ministry of Justice."

How an old cemetery disappeared beneath a city centre

He continued: "Therefore, we are being led by archaeologists."

Elllis added a small part of the site still needed to be cleared.

The discoveries of seven skeletons in July and a further 30 in August by construction workers meant the scheme had already been held up by about eight weeks, before the latest announcement of more bones being found.

The council has said the roundabout, constructed about 50 years ago, was built on the site of St John's graveyard, which closed to further burials in 1858.

It was first thought the remains could have dated back to medieval times, but a council spokesperson previously said it believed the skeletons, discovered in July and August, were from the Victorian era.

They added that as the roundabout was close to the cathedral, "there was always the possibility... these discoveries could have been earlier".

"The depth we have dug to is deeper than what was excavated in the 1970s, '80s," the spokesperson had added.

The skeletons will be reburied in Church of England burial grounds in the city and site security has been stepped up, according to the council.

The City Link walkway project will connect the railway station and the city centre.

It forms part of the £65m Station Quarter redevelopment.

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